TAO | Chapter 82

Wei Xiaochi lowered his eyes and gave a small shake of his head.

Jiang Zhan askes, “She didn’t remarry?”

Wei Xiaochi murmured, “I don’t know if she did or not… I haven’t seen her in a long time.”

“Why haven’t you seen her?”

Jiang Zhan’s face suddenly changed. He grabbed Wei Xiaochi by the shoulders and turned him toward him.

The room was dim, and the Omega’s face was hidden in the shadows. He looked up at Jiang Zhan, dazed and blank, the dark pupils beneath his messy bangs calm and still—like they were hiding a whole world of secrets.

Something sharp pierced Jiang Zhan’s chest. He reached up and gently cupped Wei Xiaochi’s face, his fingers brushing softly along his eyebrows and the corners of his eyes.

“She… Did your mom pass away?” Jiang Zhan asked, lips moving hesitantly.

Hearing the misunderstanding, Wei Xiaochi quickly said, “No. They… my parents didn’t get along. After the divorce, I just never saw her again.”

Jiang Zhan pressed his forehead against Wei Xiaochi’s, sounding like a spoiled kid, “If she never came to see you, then when we get married, we won’t invite her.”

Wei Xiaochi was stunned.

Jiang Zhan realized what he’d just said, yanked the blanket up to cover most of his face, and growled, “Don’t look at me!”

Wei Xiaochi hurriedly lowered his head, the tips of his ears gradually heating up.

After a while of silence, he still felt the need to defend Shen Yueran a little. “Actually… it wasn’t completely her fault.”

“What do you mean?” Jiang Zhan tugged the blanket down a bit, just enough to peek his eyes out and sneak a glance at Wei Xiaochi. “You wanna invite her to our wedding?”

Wei Xiaochi looked like an old-fashioned steam train—his ears were puffing out smoke, and his whole body felt like it was about to combust.

The Omega stammered, “N-No.”

When he was little, he did hope Shen Yueran would come pick him up. For a while, he even resented her. But as time passed, those feelings faded away.

Most likely, Shen Yueran had already remarried by now. She probably had a new family, new kids.

And the two of them hadn’t contacted each other in over ten years. If not for the blood connection, they were basically strangers.

Since she had a new life, Wei Xiaochi felt he shouldn’t go and bother her. Besides, he was long past the age where you cling to your mom and act cute.

When he was younger, he could only place his hopes on others. But now that he’d grown up, he understood—everything depends on yourself.

So even though he still thought of her sometimes, he never once had the urge to go find her. Things were fine the way they were now.

As for marriage in the future…

Wei Xiaochi had never even thought that far ahead. Marriage felt like some distant fantasy. His current goal was just to study hard and get into J University.

There was still a year left before the college entrance exam. The fact that he and Jiang Zhan were already discussing what kind of apartment to rent near campus was already wild enough—now they were debating whether to invite his mom to their wedding?!

This pace was getting way out of hand.

If they kept going at this rate, Jiang Zhan would probably start talking about their retirement plans next.

Wei Xiaochi glanced at the digital clock on the nightstand, and his eyes widened. He couldn’t help but remind, “It’s already midnight—we should sleep. We still have school tomorrow.”

The moment Jiang Zhan heard school, he frowned hard. “You’re in this condition, and you’re still thinking about school? You’re not allowed to go—stay home with me tomorrow.”

Wei Xiaochi: “Just one night of rest, and I’ll be fine tomorrow.”

Jiang Zhan was clearly unhappy. “It’s just one day off—what’s the big deal?”

“The end-of-term exams are coming up soon. I can’t miss class now.” Wei Xiaochi hesitated, then looked at Jiang Zhan and said carefully, “You… you’re still planning to take the college entrance exam, right?”

Jiang Zhan instantly lost steam, muttering, “Who said I wasn’t?”

He wrapped Wei Xiaochi up in the blanket like a model student who suddenly loved school, and grumbled, “It’s already so late—why aren’t you asleep yet? Go to sleep! You have school tomorrow, you know!”

Wei Xiaochi: …

—

After a night’s rest, Wei Xiaochi’s strength and mental state had mostly bounced back, and his pheromones had faded.

But Jiang Zhan still wrapped his neck in three layers of gauze, and even went to Jiang Tang’s room to dig up a bottle of inhibitor spray she’d left behind.

It was a perfume-type inhibitor, and Jiang Zhan sprayed it all over Wei Xiaochi.

The scent made Wei Xiaochi’s nose itch. He sneezed twice in a row.

“This scent only lasts two hours,” Jiang Zhan said seriously, stuffing the bottle into Wei Xiaochi’s hands. “Remember—every two hours, spray it again.”

He was seriously making a mountain out of a molehill. Other Omegas all survived just fine without this kind of drama.

Wei Xiaochi didn’t dare argue. He just nodded obediently to show he understood.

The temporary mark Jiang Zhan had made on him wouldn’t last long. His alpha pheromones had already been mostly metabolized by Wei Xiaochi’s glands.

Jiang Zhan leaned in and sniffed around Wei Xiaochi’s neck for a while. Only when he confirmed that no one would be able to catch his scent did he finally let him get out of the car.

Jiang Zhan instructed, “After morning reading, don’t go anywhere—wait for me in the classroom.”

Wei Xiaochi paused, then turned back to glance at him.

Jiang Zhan grabbed his collar, kissed him on the corner of the mouth, then leaned in close and said, “Don’t talk to that guy Xu Yang. Got it?”

Wei Xiaochi almost went cross-eyed trying to look at him. He mumbled, “Got it.”

—

With his dramatic outfit and overwhelming scent, Wei Xiaochi drew a whole wave of curious stares the moment he stepped into the classroom.

He self-consciously touched his neck and quickly ducked his head, hurrying to his seat.

Everywhere he passed, that unusual fragrance lingered in the air.

Zhang Mingyang wrinkled his nose and gave him a look of disgust. “What, did you fall into a sewer? You smell awful.”

Wei Xiaochi slammed his backpack onto the desk. “You fell into a sewer. If your nose’s broken, go to the hospital and get it checked.”

The perfume bottle was really fancy—just from the packaging you could tell it wasn’t cheap. But to Wei Xiaochi, it didn’t smell like luxury—it smelled like money. Cold, hard cash.

“What’s up with your neck?” Zhang Mingyang’s tone turned mocking, his voice icy. “Don’t tell me someone bit you?”

Wei Xiaochi felt a flicker of guilt, then glared at Zhang Mingyang and said, clearly and firmly, “None of your business. Mind your own.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Xu Yang appeared at the classroom door.

Wei Xiaochi instantly deflated like a popped balloon and shrank back behind his desk, quiet as a mouse.

Even without Jiang Zhan’s warning, he would’ve kept his distance from Xu Yang—especially these days.

He buried his head into his backpack, pretending not to see Xu Yang, and lowered his head to fiddle with the textbooks inside.

Only after Xu Yang had passed by and headed to the back row did Wei Xiaochi raise his head again. He didn’t bother arguing with Zhang Mingyang anymore—it was pointless. Instead, he pulled out his study notes.

Jiang Zhan’s foundations were pretty weak, but not completely hopeless. Just last time, with a little over a month of effort, he’d managed to bring all of Jiang Zhan’s grades up to passing level.

As long as he could maintain that kind of study pace, Wei Xiaochi wasn’t confident about hitting top-tier scores, but getting into a decent second-tier university was definitely doable.

So Wei Xiaochi began organizing a personalized study plan for Jiang Zhan.

Xu Yang glanced at the back of Wei Xiaochi’s neck—smooth and pale. He had no idea what Wei Xiaochi was writing, only that he looked incredibly focused. Even when Zhang Mingyang tried to interrupt a few times, Wei Xiaochi completely ignored him.

Or maybe ignore wasn’t the right word. When Wei Xiaochi got absorbed in his own world, it was like nothing outside of it existed—unless he sensed a threat.

He had a kind of instinctive sixth sense for danger.

The moment he decided you were a threat, if you got too close, Wei Xiaochi would instantly pick up on it and avoid you like the plague, cutting you out of his world completely.

Jiang Zhan was an exception. And Xu Yang… was also an exception.

At least, Xu Yang had thought that for all three years of high school, Wei Xiaochi would never get distracted by romance. Never.

—

Wei Xiaochi spent the entire morning self-study period drafting a tutoring plan tailored just for Jiang Zhan.

Once he set down his pen, he stretched his sore neck—and accidentally tugged at the wound on the back of it, making him wince.

The bite mark Jiang Zhan left yesterday had mostly healed. If he didn’t move too much, it didn’t hurt at all.

He reached up to touch the gauze at his neck. His brain felt both cluttered and blank at the same time. He zoned out for a while, and when he came back to himself, he saw two phrases written in his notebook—

Cohabitation.
Marriage.

Wei Xiaochi panicked, immediately scribbling over the words until they were completely illegible.

Even then, he couldn’t stop replaying last night in his mind. He had never expected Jiang Zhan to actually want to marry him.

Why? Why would Jiang Zhan want to marry him?

Was it… because he liked him?

Wei Xiaochi took off his glasses and buried his burning face into his arms, rubbing back and forth against his sleeves like he could wipe away the heat.

He rubbed once. Rubbed again. Like he was trying to scrub off all that restless feeling inside him.

“What are you being all lovey-dovey about?”

Zhang Mingyang’s snide voice yanked him back to reality. Wei Xiaochi looked up at him.

After all that rubbing, even the slight creases at the corners of his eyes were gone. His fox-like eyes drooped sleepily, the ends tapering like fine willow leaves.

His delicate, clean-cut features, paired with those sleepy eyes, gave him a kind of indescribable, soft elegance.

“Go look in the mirror,” Zhang Mingyang scoffed, turning his head sharply with a look of pure disdain.

Then he lowered his head and went back to doing practice problems, no longer paying any attention to Wei Xiaochi.

Wei Xiaochi rubbed at the itch in the corner of his eye. The little wrinkle at the outer corner came back. He put his glasses on again and glanced at Zhang Mingyang, thinking this guy was just plain weird.

As morning self-study came to an end, Wei Xiaochi started sneaking frequent glances toward the classroom door.

Right on cue, the bell rang and Jiang Zhan appeared, shooting him a look before turning and walking away.

Wei Xiaochi stood up and followed.

Jiang Zhan waited by the stairwell. When he saw Wei Xiaochi coming, he started heading downstairs.

By the entrance of the school store, Fan Wenhua saw Jiang Zhan and instantly turned away, looking like she’d just swallowed a fly.

Jiang Zhan didn’t spare her a glance. Hands in his pockets, he walked ahead with his usual aloofness, occasionally glancing back to check on the Omega behind him.

He gave a little snort and asked, “How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine.”

Jiang Zhan hadn’t said it clearly, but Wei Xiaochi knew he was asking about his physical state.

Jiang Zhan noticed the distance between them—two or three steps. “Why are you walking so far back? Come closer.”

Wei Xiaochi quickly took two steps forward, standing right beside him.

“Hot?” Jiang Zhan nodded toward the shop. “Wanna get a popsicle?”

Jiang Zhan had clearly already forgotten his argument with Fan Wenhua. But Wei Xiaochi hadn’t—he shook his head. “Not hot.”

Jiang Zhan didn’t push it. He just brought Wei Xiaochi along to check on their little empire of money-making trash bins.

The one by the school store was still the busiest, especially with robot Xiao Q stationed there—it had basically turned into a mini celeb spot.

Truth be told, Jiang Zhan didn’t really have anything specific he needed today. He just wanted to see Wei Xiaochi. Especially now, during this… special period.

Even though Wei Xiaochi’s heat was mostly over, the scent of his pheromones still lingered faintly.

So every break between classes, Jiang Zhan would come find him—either to patrol their trash bin “profits,” or just to sneak off to some shady corner to be alone together for a bit.

That whole day, Wei Minzhen spotted them walking back into school together.

Seeing those two—who had basically nothing in common—side by side, Wei Minzhen couldn’t help but start overthinking.

He tried to not be suspicious, but their behavior just didn’t feel platonic.

He tried to be suspicious, but the two of them didn’t exactly look like they were dating.

Still, they kept showing up right under his nose, whispering, walking together, looking very much not innocent.

Wei Minzhen scratched his head in frustration. The more he thought about it, the more off it seemed.

Could it be that the person he saw on the rooftop that day… was actually Wei Xiaochi?

That straight-laced, top-student face was way too deceptive. Wei Minzhen just couldn’t connect that guy with Jiang Zhan no matter how hard he tried.

As he stared at their backs disappearing into the distance, he started wondering—was Wei Xiaochi just a decoy? A smokescreen Jiang Zhan was using to cover up his real early-love Omega?

No way. He had to get to the bottom of this.

—

After school, when Wei Xiaochi headed to the bike shed to grab his bike, Jiang Zhan suddenly popped up out of nowhere, grabbed his backpack, and started dragging him toward the school gate.

Wei Xiaochi stumbled backward a few steps and twisted around. “I haven’t gotten my bike yet.”

Jiang Zhan let go of his backpack and grabbed his arm instead, voice firm: “You’re coming back with me.”

Everyone was staring. Wei Xiaochi looked pained and gave Jiang Zhan a light shove.

Jiang Zhan released him, but his cold gaze swept across the crowd. Everyone watching instantly looked away and scurried off like startled chickens.

—

Author’s Note:

I’ve seen a bunch of you in the comment section calling Zhang Mingyang “Zhang-Yin-Yang,” and I just wanna say—WHO names their kid “Yin-Yang”?!? AHHHHH!?

You guys are something else.

Hahahaha.